


man at the crossroads

by wintervioleteye (hawkguyed)



Series: one out of many and all of them the same [7]
Category: Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol (2011), S.W.A.T. (2003), S.W.A.T. - All Media Types, The Avengers (2012)
Genre: Brian Gamble is Clint Barton-verse, Crossover, Gen, Going undercover, M/M, One-Sided Relationship, Post-Movie, William Brandt is Clint Barton-verse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-01-02
Updated: 2012-01-08
Packaged: 2017-10-28 18:02:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,055
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/310629
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hawkguyed/pseuds/wintervioleteye
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Their first meeting is an accident. Not surprisingly, so is their second one.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Yes, this is heavily focusing on what Brandt says, 'Next time, I get to seduce the rich guy'. A sequel to [Ghosts of Mission's Past](http://archiveofourown.org/works/308826). Also in the same fic, attempting to fill [this prompt](http://avengerkink.livejournal.com/3266.html?thread=1379522#t1379522) on avengerkink, hopefully.

They run into one another - accidentally, again - three months after New York, when SHIELD sends Clint and Natasha in on infiltration, and IMF sends Ethan and his team to retrieve a mark. Fate has this strange way of throwing them in each other's path, Ethan realizes, watching an entirely too familiar figure stroll down the ballroom.

"Aaron!" Their mark booms, an arm quickly sliding around the other man's waist, and Ethan has to really look twice to confirm his suspicions.

The scanner in his contact lense captures Brandt's striking features when he turns, features relaxed with a charming grin on his face, and Ethan chances a quick look at his phone. The name 'William Brandt' is scrawled across the screen, alongside his title - senior analyst, IMF, retired - and Ethan's brows knit together momentarily, wondering why SHIELD hasn't removed their now-retired undercover agent from the IMF roster.

Across the room, Brandt sidles close to the mark with the grace of a jungle cat. It's almost easy to forget that under that suit Brandt hides toned muscles and scars from places none of them have been to when he smiles in a flash of teeth, all charm and masked predator.

Benji sputters over the comm; he'd followed Ethan's line of sight to the last person he'd expected to see ever since three months ago.

You have got to be joking, Ethan thinks, and then belatedly, their mark really is otherwise inclined, as proven by his hand wandering lower to brush against Brandt- no, Clint's lower back. Across the room, another man in a suit glances up to aim a glare at the back of Clint's head, and out of sight, the archer chuckles softly.

"Bloody hell, is that-?"

The tech's surprise is clear even over the comm, tinny and crackling with static.

A soft click of heels draws Ethan out of his thoughts, and a few moments later Jane is standing beside Ethan, eyes narrowed at the sight of Clint looking so comfortable in a suit and hanging onto the arm of their mark. He's dressed in black, but his shirt is a pale shade of blue or purple, from this distance, neither IMF agent can tell.

"No, way."

Benji coughs, then clears his throat, sounding a tad more hoarse than he should be. "Well, in his defense, I mean, he did say that next time he'd be seducing the rich guy."

Jane and Ethan simply exchange looks that are equal parts abject disbelief and utter amusement.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jim Street meets a ghost he thought he'd buried, all those years ago.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More crossover!
> 
> Before that though, it's recommended that you read this mini-fic [Living for Tomorrow](http://archiveofourown.org/works/315197) for a little background history between the characters. And yes, I'm having far too much fun writing this verse right now.

"Eyes open, we've got a possible hostile heading towards Hawkeye. Barton, 8 o'clock. Look sharp."

Clint doesn't need to be told twice, he's is already reaching for the concealed daggers - gift from 'Tasha - when Coulson's warning comes over the comms, shifting his weight subtly into a battle stance.

The face that appears before him throws him completely, even as the analytical voice of Brandt whispers in his head. Jim Street, ex-partner of Brian Gamble, part of Hondo's SWAT unit, retired due to injury in the line of fire, head of the LAPD's Metropolitan Division and- oh, fuck.

This is unexpected.

What comes next though, really isn't. Street throws the first punch, but Clint is faster and has the advantage of SHIELD's black ops training, ducking under the first blow. He might have lost the fight all those years back in the train-yard, but Clint sure as hell isn't going to lose this one.

"He's not after the mark, Street's after Hawkeye!"

Someone - it sounds like Coulson - is yelling at him through the earpiece, but Clint is too busy dodging punches to pay attention. He catches sight of red hair at his side and snarls a warning before his conscious mind comprehends it, but Natasha isn't there for him. Instead the man he'd been flirting with is practically dragged away by the assassin in a show of concern, and Clint hears a whisper of Russian before Tasha disappears.

 _Go get him._

There are only four people in the world who know who he was, and one who thinks that that man is dead.

Clint grins, and lunges forward to match Street's punches.

\-----

It's the last person he expects to see, alive and well with that same cocky grin. It's the face that's been haunting Jim Street for the past almost ten years, the man he'd loved like a brother and left at the train-tracks to die one cold night in March.

The way he fights is different as well, light on his feet and grinning with the adrenaline rush as he ducks punches and returns them, and Jim's almost forgotten how hard Brian can hit as a lightning quick jab to the abdomen leaves him stumbling back and gasping for breath.

Around then, the bewildered crowd has formed a curious circle of murmuring onlookers, pointing not one bit discreetly at them.

"I killed you, that night, in the train-yard," Jim wheezes in between breaths, staring up into the face he hasn't forgotten, even after ten years. A collective gasp goes through the crowd, almost theatre-like. Hell, this entire scene feels like it'd been scripted out of some high school play he'd done in tenth grade.

Brian's grin widens, and Jim's heart twists painfully in his chest to see that familiar expression on a face that suddenly seems so alien to him. There are lines there, some indelible mark of history that's etched itself on Brian's features, some terrible thing he's done over all those years that has left its legacy on him. The man in front of him is a stranger, beautiful and deadly, and Jim is secretly thankful that Brian isn't dead.

He manages to avoid the incoming jab, only for Brian to slide beneath his defenses and pin his arm behind him. It's obvious that Brian doesn't intend to hurt, even though he obviously has the training and reflexes to put Jim through the wall if he feels like it.

"You killed Brian Gamble, Jim." He says it like there's some great, dark secret behind those five words - and there is, but Clint will never tell anyone else - whispers it against the shell of Jim's ear.

Then the man is gone, vanishing into the crowd, and the only evidence he leaves behind is the bruise on Jim's arm, the ghost of Brian Gamble's touch against Jim Street's heated skin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, there are only four people who know Clint's secret. And there is unashamedly Street/Gamble tension there. Couldn't resist.


End file.
